


She Saw His Face in the Moonlight

by Sectumsempra333



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alcohol Withdrawal, F/M, Widobrave Week, Widobrave Week 2020, widobrave week-prestream, widobraveweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23341396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sectumsempra333/pseuds/Sectumsempra333
Summary: It all started in that little jail cell!
Relationships: Nott & Caleb Widogast, Nott/Caleb Widogast, Widobrave - Relationship
Kudos: 25





	She Saw His Face in the Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> I spent forever editing this fic because it kept changing tenses!! I think I finally managed to get it right!!

The guards were none too gentle when they threw her into the jail cell on that early evening. She didn't know why they didn't just kill her outright. She was a goblin that was just caught trying to steal wine. Maybe it was her pleas for mercy, maybe it was the fact that she didn't just outright attack the guards that caught her, maybe the mask threw them off for a second. Whatever it was, she didn’t protest too much when the guards led her away to the local slammer. 

The first thing she noticed was the human male sitting in the opposite corner of the jail cell. He was sitting upright, knees to his chest, huddled into himself. He paid her no mind, so she didn't either. Besides he was small, too skinny, he posed no threat to her. �  
Besides, she had her own problems to worry about. It had only been a few hours since her last drink, and she could already feel the first signs of withdrawal. The sweaty and shaky palms, headache, and nausea always came first. She knew it was only a short matter of time before she was on the floor in a pool of her own vomit, seeing things that were not there.

Later that evening, as she was feeling more and more anxious and nauseated, the man decided to speak to her.  
"Hello, what is your name?"  
The voice was low, calm, and friendly. Even though the question was barely above a whisper, the words hit her as if he had shouted them. Her head felt like it would burst.  
"Nott," she said in a very shaky voice in barely above a whisper. "What's yours?" she decided to ask out of politeness even though every word spoken caused her a great deal of pain.  
"My name is Caleb Widogast. This is Frumpkin, my cat."  
The man snapped his fingers and a cat appeared inches from her face.  
"You may pet him if you like."

The sudden appearance of a ginger cat would have been more impressive and alarming if she didn't feel as shitty as she did. She didn't know why he offered. Was this supposed to help her in some way? Was this a cruel joke and the cat was going to eat her? Throwing caution to the wind, she reached for the cat. Petting the little magical cat gave her something to do besides think about how much pain she was in, something she wasn't expecting and she felt a little better. She also realized that the man didn't seem to be afraid of her. Nor did he attempt to hurt, curse, or yell at her. He seemed a bit too friendly. Nott wondered if there was a catch to his kindness. But she couldn't dwell on that for too long.

She needed something to drink and fast. With great pain, she sat up and glanced at the locked jail door.

"If only I had my tools. I could pick those locks and be on my way!"

"You, you can do that?" The man asked, sitting upright sounding excited."What materials do you require?" 

It took her a great deal of effort to pick herself up off the floor, the dizziness almost got the better of her, but with shaky legs, she managed to make her way over to the door and examine the lock. "These locks don't seem too complicated. I could probably do it with a simple piece of wire."

"That is all you need? Wire?"

"That is the bare minimum!" She answered sitting back at her place against the wall opposite the man named Caleb.

The man snapped his fingers again and Frumpkin was at his shoulder. He seemed to be whispering in the cat's ear. Another snap of his fingers and the cat was outside the jail cell and slinking away.

She thought perhaps she was hallucinating already, giving into the effects of her withdrawal. There was no way this human man was treating her kindly, no way he had talked to her as if she was a fellow creature worth his time. Humans didn't do that, she wondered briefly what was wrong with him.

It was a few hours since Caleb had sent Frumpkin out. She knew this because every now and then, she heard Caleb whispering the hour to himself. This was annoying and it just made her more irritated. She wondered if the cat got caught and was now on someone's serving plate. She now had a splitting headache. Laying her head on the cool floor of the jail cell did little to ease her pain. During this time, Caleb only asked one more question. He seemed to at least be aware of how much pain she was in. 

"What do you usually drink?"

That question took Nott by surprise. She looked up at Caleb wondering how he knew.

"I can recognize the effects of alcohol dependence and withdrawal when I see it," Caleb whispered without judgement. "I was just wondering if I could help."

"Annnnything I cannnn gettttt my my my hands on, but I preferrrr the harder sttttuff!!" Was that really her voice right now? It was so shaky. She must have been worse off than she realized. 

At that moment Frumpkin was back and slinking through the bars, a small spool of wire in his mouth. Caleb took the wire and then whispered something else to Frumpkin. And for a second time, Frumpkin was gone. 

This time, Frumpkin was faster in his return. In his mouth was a bottle. It looked like a bottle of wine. Frumpkin gingerly placed it next to Nott's sweaty face. She was amazed. How could this be? She ran her fingers over the cool glass and managed to push herself to sit upright. With her nimble fingers and sharp claws, even shaking as they were, she managed to manipulate the stopper out of the bottle and brought it to her mouth, almost missing she was shaking so badly. The first drink was amazing. The wine, which she didn't normally care for, tasted like the elixir of life. It was sweet but not so sweet that she would wake with a hangover. As the alcohol reached her system she slowly became more coherent. She managed to regain some control of herself and her thoughts became clearer. She was done with half the bottle when she realized that she hadn't offered any to her new human friend. He had gotten it for her after all. She was partly relieved when he declined. More for her. 

With the alcohol now running through her veins, she felt better than she had since her last drink and was able to fall asleep. 

She woke in the middle of the night to the bright moonlight shinning through the bars of the cell's single window. As she glanced up she saw Caleb seated against the wall, staring out the window. The moonlight gave his ginger hair an ethereal, almost haloed glow. She couldn't help but stare at him. Something stirred in her stomach that had nothing to do with the alcohol.

In her withdrawal state, she hadn't realized how handsome he was. Now that she was able to see strait, she noticed his rugged jawline, his bright blue eyes, and what he was wearing, a worn, filthy jacket that had seen better days. He knew magic. If her assumptions were correct, this made him very intelligent. She knew from her dealings with mages that came through town that they were usually well dressed, spoke with haughtiness, and carried themselves with an air of arrogance at all times. They spoke to you as if it was a honor for you to be in their presence. Caleb seemed humble. He was decent to her in a way that no one else had ever been when first meeting her. He didn’t judge her in her withdrawal state and even helped her. He didn't seem afraid of her. She made a vow that night that she would protect and follow this human for as long as he would have her. She lay back down on her makeshift bed of dry hay and started to formulated a plan. It would need some fine tuning, but maybe Caleb could fill in the gaps and they could escape this place. She would talk to him in the morning. But, for now, she was content to watch Caleb glow in the moonlight.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!


End file.
